Ventriloquism in Latin means ‘belly speaking’. But this description is wrong, because it’s not the belly that’s talking. It’s simply the art of speaking without moving the lips. The consonants are produced with the tongue and the palate only. As the lips are an essential tool for speaking, there are several restrictions for a ventriloquist: He (or she) can’t pronounce the letters P, B and M. He needs to create the illusion of pronouncing these letters – otherwise the show is screwed. The illusion gets perfect when the artist uses a puppet that – in the simplest form – can move its mouth. The more complex puppets even roll eyes, move eyebrows and maybe the arms as well. If the puppets are handled correctly, the audience gets the illusion that the puppet talks. Let me give you some examples:

Paul Zerdin is a British ventriloquist who acts both alone and with puppets. In this short clip he shows how to wind up sound engineers prior to the show when he’s doing the sound check, along with some other rather nasty jokes. ‘I was a unique case at the mental hospital: I was the only patient with voices in the head others could hear as well.’


Here’s an extreme example: Kevin Johnson uses TWO puppets at the same time. To make that even more complicated he shows the audience what it’s like in dubbed movies when the actor’s lips are moving differently to what the dubbed voice says.


At last: Jeff Dunham. This American ventriloquist has several puppets he uses on stage – one at a time. Achmed, the dead Terrorist can move his jaw, roll eyes and lift eyebrows – it seems to be alive. Along with playing a conversation this is probably the most complex kind of performance for a ventriloquist – although Jeff’s jokes are a bit worn out...